The 2019 Downtown Lafayette Annual Report

2019 Annual Report Introduction from our CEO, Anita Begnaud

To our Downtown community and stakeholders:

I hope you and your family are safe and well. Our office’s 2019 Downtown Lafayette annual report celebrates the progress Lafayette’s Downtown district experienced during a record-setting year of excitement and new development. Our plan for 2020 was to continue building upon that strong foundation. Like so many of you, we did not anticipate the tremendous challenges COVID-19 would bring our community.

An excerpt from my introductory letter in the report references how hard our team worked to “bring new energy and a sense of pride to the center of Lafayette.” None of us could have guessed how important that work would be now.

There’s no way around it, addressing this pandemic head-on has been difficult and oftentimes exhausting. However, I still feel the momentumof our district in the midst of all this uncertainty.

So many businesses and people of Downtown have inspired and energized our office throughout this pandemic. It’s been heartwarming to witness how we’ve stuck together, chipped in, and supported one another during hard times. There’s an energy and collaborative spirit in Downtown Lafayette that doesn’t exist in many places, and I believe it will fuel our district’s recovery in the coming months and years.

It’s been a wild ride for all of us, but I know we’ll look back at this period in our lives and be proud that we never gave up and continued to find new ways to support our community, colleagues, and friends.

I’ll leave you with a line from one of my favorite songs: “Even in the darkness, we’ll find the light.”– David Ramirez

Until we can safely meet again Downtown,

Anita Begnaud

CEODowntown Development Authority and Downtown Lafayette Unlimited

The 2019 Word of the Year: Momentum

There’s one word we heard more than any other in 2019: Momentum. Read our 2019 annual report to see how the Downtown community has grown and moved forward in a year’s time.

The calendar-style annual report takes a visual focus on a big year in Downtown Lafayette’s history, highlighting energizing scenes and details of growth in our community.